On the Other Side of the Counter

This morning I went to the elementary school to register Kennedy for kindergarten. First off, I can hardly believe that she is old enough to be getting ready for school.

Secondly, it felt a little weird to be on the other side of the counter standing there in the office. There is this barrier (marked by the counter) that separates those parents/children from the teachers/secretaries/principals. It felt a little odd that I was on the parent/child side of that barrier today.

After 4 1/2 years of teaching school, you get pretty comfortable heading into the school office to talk with the principal or secretary or head into the teacher's lounge. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was watching parents bring their kids into the office to fill out papers, etc. I always enjoyed seeing the babies and younger siblings of students.

Do I miss being on the teacher side of the counter? Yes and no. I miss the kids (well except those that gave me gray hair). I miss all of the excitement of holidays and reading week and cupcakes because it was someones birthday. I do miss reading aloud after lunch and listening to the kids' crazy stories about what they did over the break.

I DON'T miss the discipline problems, the grading papers or the 30 minute lunch break which was more of a wolf down your lunch, run to the potty, make copies, return a call to a parent and grab a read-aloud-book at the library break. All that said, I wouldn't trade being home with my little ones for the world......although in lots of ways my job as a teacher really prepared me for having my own children. My 30 minute lunch break now goes like this: eat a bite of cheese stick that you're getting for the kids, help someone on the potty, get kids to stop fighting, eat a bite of apple you're cutting for the kids, change a diaper, wolf down a sandwich (if you're lucky) so you can read to the kids before nap time.